Marking device



y 3L E934. K. ENGEL.

MARKING DEVICE Filed Jan. 8, 1932 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 VEA/Tm?.

July 31, 1934. Kl ENGEL 1,968,133

MARKING DEVICE Filed Jan. 8, .1932 2 sheets-sheet -2l Figi l//\/ VE/v TUR/ @am mw..

' Patented July 31, 1934 ifINI'liiD .STATI- 3s PATEN'B; f

MARKHGEVICE; y f Karl Engel, Beverlrf Mass., assigner t'o- Uiteet Shoe Machinery Corporation;v` Paterson, N. J., wacorporation of New Jersey' f "'Appiationlnnuarya i932, serial No. 585,537 i v I 1 claims; (ci. 1011-28,) f

. Thi'siinvention relates t marking devices and is herein illustrated as. embodied in a die for producing and marking 'shoe-part blanks.

AIn the manufacture ofv shoes, prior to the as'-Y sembling of the parts which make up the shoes,

the various shoe parts, such as Vamps, quarters and' soles which are commonly formed :from leather by hand-cutting operations or by dies,

' --are sorted and inspected in order to insure proper? 0selection of shoe parts ofthe requisite charac# teristics for the shoes Ain which they are to be incorporated. During suchl sorting and inspec-v tion,. for" example, itis common practice to `apl -ply `stamps orother markings to indicate the V'thickness or other characteristics -such` as the grade of the materialY of which the parts are' composed; 4 f

in view of the foregoing, it is anfobject'of the .present invention to'p'rovide improved marking wdevices which, without sacrincing the'advantages of such devices as heretoforeconstructed, Will' be particularly adapted to facilitate the markf ingof shoe parts with =--grade. To this end, and`- as illustrated, the" in- "'vention provides a marking' device comprising a supporting member and a plurality of marking tools carried by thesupporting member' and havwise of the member whereby upon bringing one or more of the tools vin engagement with a blank` positioned upon a support oneor more impressions are produced in the blank, such impressions beingv adapted to indicate aY characteristic or 40"edges atdifferent distances therefrom., rljhus, when' the illustrated dieis forcedl through sheet material to produce a blank, oneor moreof the ribs will engage the material,l depending upon the -thickness thereof, and mark it in such a Way 'that'the thickness of the blank canreadily be determined by'observing the number 4of impres` sions along itsedge` "In another aspect, and as illustrated, the in-` v.vention consists in the'provision of a hollow. die `having upstanding wallsterminatingv in cutting edges and a, plurality of amarking members` mov-- ably mounted withinthe dieV andadapted to engage material forced into the dietogether withmeansv operablesto. limit movement; of ,one of thev -"marking members to cause such member to make respect j to thickness andingv operative portions differently spaced' height?.

anA impression upon the material, A die con-- structed as above indica-ted is advantageous in that itprovides for the marking of abl-ank-'at the time it is died-'out therebyu saving one'op.- eration; For example, such a die-caribe utilizedV for producing solesand for marking theml with indicia effective to designate,` the portion; of the skin from which'theAblank-is died out,- whichlater facilitates the grading` or sorting ofthe.- soles. I 651' Other objects and features of the inventionwill.

beapparent from-the following detailed specieae tion when taken in connection. with the accom-- panying drawings and will be' pointed out in the c, claims; .70'

yIrl-*the drawings, Fig; 1 represents a plan View of a die constructed in accordance Withone embodiment of the invention;

Fig. 2v isv alongitudinal rcross-sectionalv viewof the Adie taken along lines I-I-II of Fig,

Fig. 3 is a transverse* crossesectional- Viewv taken along lines-III..III of Fig. l;y Fig`...f4 fisa transverse crossesectionai view* e takena'long l-inesIV-l-IVl ofFig. 1l; and '80 *Figi 5 isa perspective view ofa sole .producedy byadie.`

Asgshownf in Fig. 1, the illustrated' die consistsof ai double die 10, for producing sole blanks .from sheet material such asv leather, and comprising. upstanding side- Walls IZ- terminatingf cutting edgeslisuitabletodie out or to`r formthev outer side-` and reareedge'portions of twoA sole blanks and anl intermediate upstand-ingwal l 16v terminating inY arv cutting edge 18- fo r producing a. cut fcommonto thetwo soles to be produced; and effective to form the inner side IV porf tionsof such soles. It -will be 'observed that the wall lfseparatesthe` die '10 intog` two sections 19fa-nd- 20, each of whichis operabletop'roduce95" asole blank; suchas the sole bl an k 21 illustrated`- inzFig. 5.- The cuttingedges v1li-andF 18 are soY disposedr relativelyV to eachother that the soleY heel-end--formingsportion of onejof the die see` tions `is located adjacent to the forepart formf-A ing edge portions; ofythe other section and-projects beyondf it t o` some eXtent.vf lThis is' for(L the., purpose ofeiecting economy in the materialfromwhich the solesV are diedfout, there -beingnofvvaste materiaLbetweenadjacent soles' out... f ffMeans areprovided for markingblanks, fasthey are diedv out, inA suchj a Way. thatfthe'thickness of, the blanks can.l readilybe ascertained jupon, inspectior 1;.. Tof this-.end, ;each. off the .di e :sec.

' tions-19and 20 is provided'with marking mem- 110 l bers 22 in the'form of ribs which are spaced laterally along the wall 16 and which terminate in flat operative end portions 24 located at different distances from the cutting edge 18 height- 5 wise of the wall 16. Preferably, the distances from the cutting edge 18 increase regularly by fixed amounts in passing from one end of the series of ribs 22 to the other.` For example, it has been found expedient to space the surface 24 of the left-hand rib 22 of the die section 20, shown in Figs. 1 and 2, from the cutting edge 18 by a distance corresponding to a thickness of leather of six irons (about 6/48 of an inch), equivalent to the thinnest sole ordinarily used, and to increase theY spacing of the surfaces 24 of successive ribs by a distance corresponding to two irons. Thus the right-hand rib will be spaced from the cutting edge by a distance corresponding to fourteen irons which is 20 equivalent to the thickness of the thickest sole commonly used. This construction is such that when the die 10 is forced through sheet material positioned upon a Work-support, one or more ofthe Asurfaces 24 ofthe ribs 22 will engage the 255;; upper Vsurface of the material forced into the die, making impressions therein which will vary innumber depending upon the thickness of the material. Accordingly, the number of impressions made in the material will be an indication of its approximate thickness within the limrvits required in sorting soles. Thus, a sole of a thickness of less than six irons would not be marked; a sole of a thickness between eight and ten irons would have two impressions along its 35.-, edge; anda sole of a thickness of twelve irons 'Jwould have four impressions along its edge, as illustrated in Fig. 5 which shows four impressions 26 along the edge of the sole 21. It will be-observd thatsince the rib 22 which is clos- 4Q-est to the edge 18 is so spaced therefrom that @there will be no tendency of any of the ribs to penetrate entirely through the material in such a way as to mutilate the sole.

The illustrated mechanism is provided with means for applying symbols, for example, letters, u to the surface of blanks at the time they are died out, such symbols being for the purpose of indicating the grade of material or other characteristics of the blanks. To this end, the heel por- 59i tion of each of the die sections 19 and 20 is pro- JJvided with a frame member 28 constituting a block rigidly secured to the walls 12 by a setscrew 30. The frame member 28 carries a plurality of marking tools 32 slidably mounted there- 55,.,in and each so arranged that the stamping sur- "mface 34 thereof is normally spaced from the cutting edge 14 by a stop 36 positioned in a slot 38 in the member 28 and normally held in engagement with the bottom of the slot by a spring 40, :.,the upper end of which is retained in position ""by a cover plate 42. The tools 32 are arranged along an arc having at its center a stud 44 upon which is mounted an arm 46 arranged for movement Vaboutlthe stud 44 by means of a handle 48 .which projects through a slot 50 inthe wall v12. The arm 46 is provided with a recess 52 in which is slidably mounted a plunger 54 which can be brought into alinement with any o ne of the mark-v ing tools 32. The plunger 54 is normally forced if@ v,in a direction toward the tools 32 by avspring 56 located within the recess 52. vWhen the die l0 isoperated to produce blanks from sheet material, the material upon entering the die engages the tools 32 forcing them upwardly against the com- 7 5 pression of the springs38 but the compression of such springs is not sufficient to hold the plungers against the material with force enough to produce an impression therein. However, the tool 32 with Which the plunger 54 is alined will engage the plunger and its upward movement will be so limited by the spring 56 that that particular tool Will produce an impression such as the letter B upon the sole 21 illustrated in Fig. 5. Since the stamping pressure is yieldingly applied there will be no tendency to break any of the parts or to distort the material unduly in applying the tool. Thus, it will be seen that the device above described provides means for readily applying during the cutting operation symbols suitable for indicating the grade of material from which ablank is cut.

To provide for the stripping of blanks from the die, each of the sections thereof is provided with a stripper plate 58 carried by studs 60 slidably mounted in a frame member 62 and normally forced outwardly of the cutting edges by springs 64.

In the use of the construction above described, the die 10 is placed upon sheet material supported upon a cutting block in the usual manner and pressure Vis applied to the upper portion of the die to force the cutting edges thereof into the material to form two sole blanks. As the material is forced into the die sections 19 and 20, its upper surface will be engaged by one or more of the surfaces 24 of the ribs 22 of each section to produce one or more impressions 26 in each blank, the number of such depressions depending upon the thickness of the material. At the same time, the upper surface of each blank will engage a selected tool 32 which will be operative to mark the blank with a symbol indicating the grade or other desired information.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Pat. ent of the United States isz- 1. A die comprising a Wall terminating in a cutting edge, and a plurality of marking tools having operative portions differently spaced height- Wise of the cutting edge.

2. A die comprising an upstanding wall having a cutting edge, and a plurality of ribs extending heightwise of the wall and terminating adjacent to the cutting edge at different distances therefrom.

'3. A die comprising an upstanding wall having a cutting edge, and a plurality of marking devices located adjacent to the cutting edge and spaced therefrom at different distances heightwise of the wall.

4. A die for producing blanks from sheet material comprising an upstanding wall having a cutting edge, marking devices comprising ribs positioned along the cutting edge and having blank engaging portions located vat different distances from the cutting edge heightwise of the side wall.

5. A hollow die comprising upstanding walls terminating in cutting edges, a frame member within the die, a plurality of marking members slidably mounted in the frame member in position to engage material forced into the die, and means operable selectively to limit movement of one of the marking members.

6. A hollow die comprising upstanding side walls terminating in cutting edges, a frame member within the die, a plurality of marking members mountedl in the frame member for movement heightwise of the side Walls, an arm pivotal- 1y mounted upon the frame member, and a springpressed plunger carried by the arm and movable therewith selectively into alinement With one of the marking members to limit movement thereof relatively to the side Walls.

7. A hollow die comprising upstanding WallsA terminating in cutting edges, a plurality of mark- 

